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xp_logs With the masks destroyed, they move to escape the Hell dimension. However, there’s a slight problem in getting away.
The final mask crumbled and there was a pulse of light through the chamber; like a final heartbeat as they all looked at each other. Behind them, the bridge back had changed, now more of a yellow light inside of the black flame that once defined it. Kane looked up and called out.
"Amanda, did that do it?"
"Yes!" Amanda's voice sounded strained from the unseen other end of the bridge. "Hurry up and get the fuck out of there! The bridge is all me now and I can only hold it so long!"
Jean was on her knees, looking down at her hands. Tendrils of smoke and ash streamed from glowing cracks underneath her skin. When Amanda started yelling, she looked up. A fire burned in her eyes, fading into her normal brilliant green. The cracks in her skin slowly started to close. She climbed to her feet.
Gabriel, breathing more heavily than he realized, watched Jean move. He stood there, motionless, unclenching a fist he hadn't realized he'd formed, and his hand shook slightly. "Fuck," he grunted, a guttural swear that didn't come close to expressing his feelings. He kicked once more at the shards of the mask at his feet. "This had better work," he muttered, turning back toward the direction they came.
Kyle swiped sweat and black ash off his face, and spat something black and thick onto the ground. "The second we get out of here, I want a goddamn explanation." He took a step towards the yellow glow leading the way out. A bolt of green bio-electricity lanced out of the darkness of the room and caught Kyle square in the chest, knocking him over.
“Unfortunately, I can’t let you leave,” came Brand’s voice from the shadows. The SWORD director herself appeared, an expression of pure malice twisting her face. “You may have banished my master from this plane, but don’t think you can simply walk away.”
"You are not supposed to be here. Fuck! You are supposed to be in New York!" Even as she opened her mouth to respond, Kane moved so fast he blurred. In a blink, he was holding Brand frozen, his thumb pressed into her neck. Within seconds, her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped over, unconscious by the temporary interruption of blood flow to her brain. "OK, this is bad. Only someone with an amulet can pass back through the portal."
"Don't suppose we could just leave her, since it's her fault we're in this fucking mess." Gabriel muttered. He sighed. This was the fucked-up Danger Room scenario he should have been preparing for, but how would he know. "How do these things work? I'm fast enough or whatever that I could speed out with you or Kyle, then run back in and give one of these to Brand, and carry her outta here."
"I'm not leaving anyone behind for him. Doesn't matter what they've done. No one deserves that." Kane pulled off his amulet and wrapped it around Brand's neck before passing her over to Gabe. "The amulets only work one time. Once you go through the portal, they are worthless. But I know another way out of here. It's a... backdoor I guess, for mortals only. Some kind of bullshit biblical magic crap."
"Where does it spit you out?" Jean spoke up, just as the last crack on her cheek closed. "We can send Blink to retrieve you."
"I'll be close by. Just keep a brain out." He said and pointed to the portal. "Go! We're running out of time."
“I don’t—“ Gabriel hesitated, even with Brand’s weight bearing down on him. This felt familiar, and the last time, it hadn’t gone so well.
But he wasn’t going to be stuck here. “Fuck it,” he muttered. His powers flared, and with great effort, he heaved the lifeless Brand out of the hell dimension, where Amanda and her pack of lies was waiting.
Kane waited until all of them had cleared the portal. After all of this, he wasn’t about to see anyone missed. As soon as it winked out of existence behind them, he turned and started to quickly move through the temple.
He’d spent enough time here in the times he was away from the Brotherhood in order to establish his undercover credentials for them in order to find out information about the Sentinel program. It wasn’t pleasant, but between the abuse, humiliation and rape, Olivier liked to talk. Mostly about himself, but also his realm. The escape route he was intending to use had been one of his brags, about the mortals that had traveled down into the Hell Realms seeking wealth, fame, power, or worst of all, trying to bring back a loved one. The Hell Lords waited for them, unable to use the link to the mortal world for themselves, but happy to engineer the destruction of the people who were fools enough to trust them.
He dodged around the entire range of internal barricades and spiked walls that turned the internal structure into a maze. It wouldn’t be long before Olivier would be back. Even with the beating he took at Magneto’s hands, Kane had been told that he healed astonishingly rapidly in his home. Finally, he reached the edge of the path. It was a long natural stone chimney that rose up impossibly high. Before he could step into it, a clawed hand dropped on his shoulder.
“Leaving so soon? I’m very disappointed in you, Kane. I thought we had an understanding. You’ll do my bidding and I’d… use you up until you had no further worth and then cast you aside.” The claws dug in, but were stopped cold by Kane’s omni-skin toughening.
“No. No more.” He shrugged the hand off. “You want to try and stop me leaving? Let’s go round and round. You can’t be healed all the way yet and I’ve got months of pain I’ve been dying to return to you.”
“You know you can’t win here.”
“I don’t have to. You don’t have your link to Earth. You’re already injured. How long do you think it will take while you and I are going after each other before one of your rivals or underlings decides to use the opportunity to take this place from you as well.” Kane said, his eyes cold. “If I can’t get home, the least I can do is make sure staying here damned takes you down as well.”
Olivier chuckled. “I misjudged you, Kane. Do you know it has been centuries since a mortal got the better of me, and an eon since one taught me a lesson. I’ve been so used to my powers that I never thought to factor in mutants. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Ever. You’re trapped here.”
“I made a bridge to Earth once. It took thousands of years, but I did it. I’ll find another way next time.” Olivier hissed. “And when I do, I will find you, your friends… every person who you have ever cared about, and I will remake Earth as a private hell for you and you alone.”
“Too late. I’ve already been to New Jersey.” Kane shoved off his hand and stepped back into the stone passage. “If you find your way back, I’ll make sure nothing of you survives.”
“All the bravado. All the arrogance.” Olivier and suddenly darted forward. His hand grabbed Kane by the face, claws encompassing his head. “And while I can’t stop you, I can leave you with one last gift. Take away one last thing.” Another his claws, black flame erupted. It started to spread, stretching in flaming lines from his grip and starting to web Garrison’s body like a rapid infection spreading and growing. As the fire peaked, Olivier pushed Kane back, and he reeled blind into the chimney, letting the passage take him from Hell.
The final mask crumbled and there was a pulse of light through the chamber; like a final heartbeat as they all looked at each other. Behind them, the bridge back had changed, now more of a yellow light inside of the black flame that once defined it. Kane looked up and called out.
"Amanda, did that do it?"
"Yes!" Amanda's voice sounded strained from the unseen other end of the bridge. "Hurry up and get the fuck out of there! The bridge is all me now and I can only hold it so long!"
Jean was on her knees, looking down at her hands. Tendrils of smoke and ash streamed from glowing cracks underneath her skin. When Amanda started yelling, she looked up. A fire burned in her eyes, fading into her normal brilliant green. The cracks in her skin slowly started to close. She climbed to her feet.
Gabriel, breathing more heavily than he realized, watched Jean move. He stood there, motionless, unclenching a fist he hadn't realized he'd formed, and his hand shook slightly. "Fuck," he grunted, a guttural swear that didn't come close to expressing his feelings. He kicked once more at the shards of the mask at his feet. "This had better work," he muttered, turning back toward the direction they came.
Kyle swiped sweat and black ash off his face, and spat something black and thick onto the ground. "The second we get out of here, I want a goddamn explanation." He took a step towards the yellow glow leading the way out. A bolt of green bio-electricity lanced out of the darkness of the room and caught Kyle square in the chest, knocking him over.
“Unfortunately, I can’t let you leave,” came Brand’s voice from the shadows. The SWORD director herself appeared, an expression of pure malice twisting her face. “You may have banished my master from this plane, but don’t think you can simply walk away.”
"You are not supposed to be here. Fuck! You are supposed to be in New York!" Even as she opened her mouth to respond, Kane moved so fast he blurred. In a blink, he was holding Brand frozen, his thumb pressed into her neck. Within seconds, her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped over, unconscious by the temporary interruption of blood flow to her brain. "OK, this is bad. Only someone with an amulet can pass back through the portal."
"Don't suppose we could just leave her, since it's her fault we're in this fucking mess." Gabriel muttered. He sighed. This was the fucked-up Danger Room scenario he should have been preparing for, but how would he know. "How do these things work? I'm fast enough or whatever that I could speed out with you or Kyle, then run back in and give one of these to Brand, and carry her outta here."
"I'm not leaving anyone behind for him. Doesn't matter what they've done. No one deserves that." Kane pulled off his amulet and wrapped it around Brand's neck before passing her over to Gabe. "The amulets only work one time. Once you go through the portal, they are worthless. But I know another way out of here. It's a... backdoor I guess, for mortals only. Some kind of bullshit biblical magic crap."
"Where does it spit you out?" Jean spoke up, just as the last crack on her cheek closed. "We can send Blink to retrieve you."
"I'll be close by. Just keep a brain out." He said and pointed to the portal. "Go! We're running out of time."
“I don’t—“ Gabriel hesitated, even with Brand’s weight bearing down on him. This felt familiar, and the last time, it hadn’t gone so well.
But he wasn’t going to be stuck here. “Fuck it,” he muttered. His powers flared, and with great effort, he heaved the lifeless Brand out of the hell dimension, where Amanda and her pack of lies was waiting.
Kane waited until all of them had cleared the portal. After all of this, he wasn’t about to see anyone missed. As soon as it winked out of existence behind them, he turned and started to quickly move through the temple.
He’d spent enough time here in the times he was away from the Brotherhood in order to establish his undercover credentials for them in order to find out information about the Sentinel program. It wasn’t pleasant, but between the abuse, humiliation and rape, Olivier liked to talk. Mostly about himself, but also his realm. The escape route he was intending to use had been one of his brags, about the mortals that had traveled down into the Hell Realms seeking wealth, fame, power, or worst of all, trying to bring back a loved one. The Hell Lords waited for them, unable to use the link to the mortal world for themselves, but happy to engineer the destruction of the people who were fools enough to trust them.
He dodged around the entire range of internal barricades and spiked walls that turned the internal structure into a maze. It wouldn’t be long before Olivier would be back. Even with the beating he took at Magneto’s hands, Kane had been told that he healed astonishingly rapidly in his home. Finally, he reached the edge of the path. It was a long natural stone chimney that rose up impossibly high. Before he could step into it, a clawed hand dropped on his shoulder.
“Leaving so soon? I’m very disappointed in you, Kane. I thought we had an understanding. You’ll do my bidding and I’d… use you up until you had no further worth and then cast you aside.” The claws dug in, but were stopped cold by Kane’s omni-skin toughening.
“No. No more.” He shrugged the hand off. “You want to try and stop me leaving? Let’s go round and round. You can’t be healed all the way yet and I’ve got months of pain I’ve been dying to return to you.”
“You know you can’t win here.”
“I don’t have to. You don’t have your link to Earth. You’re already injured. How long do you think it will take while you and I are going after each other before one of your rivals or underlings decides to use the opportunity to take this place from you as well.” Kane said, his eyes cold. “If I can’t get home, the least I can do is make sure staying here damned takes you down as well.”
Olivier chuckled. “I misjudged you, Kane. Do you know it has been centuries since a mortal got the better of me, and an eon since one taught me a lesson. I’ve been so used to my powers that I never thought to factor in mutants. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Ever. You’re trapped here.”
“I made a bridge to Earth once. It took thousands of years, but I did it. I’ll find another way next time.” Olivier hissed. “And when I do, I will find you, your friends… every person who you have ever cared about, and I will remake Earth as a private hell for you and you alone.”
“Too late. I’ve already been to New Jersey.” Kane shoved off his hand and stepped back into the stone passage. “If you find your way back, I’ll make sure nothing of you survives.”
“All the bravado. All the arrogance.” Olivier and suddenly darted forward. His hand grabbed Kane by the face, claws encompassing his head. “And while I can’t stop you, I can leave you with one last gift. Take away one last thing.” Another his claws, black flame erupted. It started to spread, stretching in flaming lines from his grip and starting to web Garrison’s body like a rapid infection spreading and growing. As the fire peaked, Olivier pushed Kane back, and he reeled blind into the chimney, letting the passage take him from Hell.
